Reviewing the data of an EVP log

Confessions of a Rookie Paranormal Audio Analyzer
June 10th, 2008 by djb
You have all seen it.

The lonely paranormal investigator, toiling away listening to the hours of captured audio from an investigation of a reportedly haunted location. Headphones on, intentively listening to the sounds of human voices in hopes of finding some voice that is not from a currently breathing human.

Searching for EVP is not as easy as it looks on TV.

Especially when you are a rookie. You can read and try to learn how to listen for this stuff but it’s kind of like learning to swim from a book. You really actually have to get into the water before you really learn anything.

Recently we here at Spectral Review had the opportunity to investigate the Myrtles Plantation (see our roundup of our reports including personal experiences of many who attended). Being rookies we were guided by the experienced investigators from Everyday Paranormal.

We captured 105 minutes of audio that were EVP sessions. We captured 60 minutes of audio while leaving the recorder alone in a bedroom before the investigation began, and another 60 minutes audio from a DV camcorder after the investigation ended.

The story of our experience of analyzing all this data may be informative to our readers who have never experienced an investigation and it’s aftermath. Veteran paranormal investigators who may read this article might be like Bugs Bunny and say “What an ignoramus, what a buffoon!”

Searching for an EVP

On more than one occasion I would ask for feedback from my wife on a possible EVP. She would listen then give a puzzled look and ask “What is it?”

“Pork heads.”

Or other assorted nonsense words which no one in their right mind should count as EVP. Now having said that, when you have gone on your first investigation and you have watched hours and hours of paranormal TV shows and read tons of articles of paranormal research, you desperately want to find your first EVP!

Well “Pork heads” wasn’t our first for a few reasons. One reason is it sounds like another investigator who was in the room at the time. Plus unless “pork heads” are a southern delicacy we don’t know about then it doesn’t make any sense either.

But we want to give you a chance to listen. First you will hear Brad Klinge of Everyday Paranormal, “pork heads”, then another investigator.

It’s kind of hard to hear right? So using our trusted audio software Audacity, we amplify and reduce the noise so it’s clearer.

Learning As We Go

On the day of the investigation, we attended a Ghost Hunting 101 session given by Brad and Everyday Paranormal. Brad told us some important things to keep in mind when performing an EVP session:

Speak clearly and loudly
Keep a session to about 5 minutes
If you make a noise, announce that you did so the noise is not misinterpreted
These are all so important because it’s so hard when you hear mumbles and you spend time on what ends up not being an EVP. Plus analyzing a session that is 5 minutes long is easier because it’s just hard to concentrate conducting the session and then listening to it later if it’s longer. And any noise that can easily be explained away just saves time and effort.

3D Audio

Something they do not highlight on shows like Ghost Hunters is comparing two or more recordings of the same session. Even this rookie paranormal audio analyzer could see the value in doing so. Not only does it give you a 3D audio information, you often hear a sound more clearly on one recorder that helps you eliminate a false positive.

Here is a recording where you hear an investigator voice, then what sounds like a child laughing and then another investigator. Children are known to haunt the Myrtles Plantation so it’s a natural thing to think laughter or children playing would be sounds that might come through on an EVP.

Now a much different story with this recording. Notice the microphone is right near the first investigator and you can hear his voice much stronger.

Here you see the value in comparing recordings of the same session. I wonder why they never talk about this on Ghost Hunters.

Wishful Thinking

This next recording is another example of 3D audio. I wish I could say this is a direct answer to a question I posed. I find myself hearing something that would make sense. Other people I have asked to listen do not agree. What do you think? Again this is a learning experience and wanting an EVP is not the same as having an EVP.

We were out on the grounds of Myrtles Plantation and one of the stories of hauntings is that a former caretaker is seen at the entrance of the property telling people to go away. This man is named “Poppy” and was a caretaker at some point in the history of the plantation. In this EVP session I compliment Poppy on how beautiful the grounds look. There is a sound shortly thereafter. What does it sound like to you?

When I thought about this sound, it does appear like it could have been made by the investigator who commented on the trees. I mean the sound could be his voice. Please listen to his recording and note the levels of the voices.

You clearly hear my voice is much weaker. I know it’s hard to hear but the response is a bit stronger on my recording than it is on the second recording. You would think the opposite if the sound was made by the other investigator. Let me illustrate with the waveforms:

In the picture above you can see how my voice is very strong as my mouth is not far from the microphone as I’m holding the recorder in my hand. The important thing is to look at the middle blip which is the response and the larger wave at the end which is the voice of the other investigator.

Above is the waveform of the second recording. See how my voice is near nothing compared to the first? The response is less, yet the other investigators voice is stronger in comparison. The point being if the sound was made by the other investigator than the middle response wave should be stronger also since he is closer to his own microphone.

Ok, thats all good but it comes down to what is the response? I think it’s “thanks” and Poppy is responding to my statement. I asked a few others to listen and they don’t hear it that way. I would like to know what you think. There was a third investigator also and I cannot rule out that he may have made this sound.

Sometimes You Just Can’t Figure it Out

This next recording goes into the category of just weirdness. It’s a sound that appears to be a human voice but what it’s saying is nonsense. And it’s really unexplained or I can’t think of any rational explanation. It’s the second to last EVP session of the night and you will hear Brad say “let’s finish up down at the museum” or words to that effect. You hear me fumble with the recorder trying to turn it off. The sound I want you to listen for is right at the end.

What the heck was that?? Play it again!

It has become known as the “fella” word.

I have read articles and heard interviews with people who will do effects on EVPs with their software. And one of these effects is changing the speed of the sound. Since this is such a weird sound, I wanted to experiment. But something was bothering me about doing so. I got this flash of playing the white album backwards to hear “I buried Paul” when I was a kid. The person I regard highest in this field is Brad Klinge and since he will answer my email , I asked him his feelings on doing things like changing speed of the EVP:

We look at evidence (in this case EVP) from the point of a skeptic — the more they can point to the sound as something else, the less likely we are to present it.
So I have to say that this is not an EVP. However, I still wanted to play with the speed! So here it is sped up by 180%

Maybe We Got Something Here

This next recording could be a real EVP. I definitely hear something at the end that could be a voice unattached to a human. To set it up, Brad was explaining to another investigator how on their previous visit to Myrtles Plantation it was a quiet night until 2:30 AM and then all heck broke loose. Does a spirit at the end of this recording acknowledge what happened?

To me it sounds like “I know”. Or it’s my stomach complaining about the Sonic hotdog I had six hours earlier. I’m certain it’s one of the two.

Conclusion

Having had my first set of audio to analyze, I have to say I felt I learned a lot. I definitely feel I got my feet wet and really tried to be objective. I enjoyed the analysis, the process of working with the data. Maybe it was because it was new to me, or the excitement for the search of an EVP but I can safely say I’m looking forward to experiencing another investigation and analysis of audio that is collected.